India’s vanishing wildlife is no longer just a biodiversity crisis—it is a public health emergency born of human-induced ecological collapse.

On January 16, 2021, a large, blotchy, elliptical egg began to crack open at the Vulture Conservation and Breeding Centre (VCBC) in Pinjore, Haryana. The captive-bred chick pushed through her calcite cocoon, in which she had laid curled up cosily for two months. When she emerged, she was covered in soft grey down and was still blind.Over the next few months, the fluffy, wide-eyed chick would grow, and grow some more, into a large, not-so-gainly creature. “N11”, as this particular white-rumped vulture was named, now had a gleaming hooked bill, a distinct hunch, an almost featherless head, a mighty wingspan, and piercing eyes. Now, this countenance is a complete antithesis to its benign nature: this taloned bird does not hunt its prey, it scavenges on carrion.